For my Animation 2 class, I spent the semester designing and animating an adaptation for an endangered species. I choose the giant tortoise of the Galapagos Islands and added some prickly appendages.
Here is my concept design. Through my research, I learned that recently-introduced predators threaten the giant tortoise population by eating the young tortoises. At first, I envisioned prickly pear cactuses growing out of the shell to offer camouflage and protection. Later, the cactuses became a part of the tortoise.
I created a tortoise model in ZBrush and Substance Painter. I altered the colors a few times before the final product.
I imported the model into Maya for rigging and animation. One challenge was figuring out how to use the particle generator to create the projectile spikes. After some experimentation, I realized that I could create a similar look in After Effects and decrease render time. For the final steps, I added sound effects and camera movement in Premiere Pro.